Dispensing machine



Gut. 15, 1929. E. J. SWEETLAND DISPENSING MACHINE Filed May 21, 1927INVENTOR mfJSweetbmi ATORNE s Patented Get. 15,

TED STAT rrnr ERNEST J. SWEEILAND, OF I-IAZLETON, PENNSYLVANIAIDIbEPENEING MACHINE Application filed May 21, 18%7. Serial No. 183,136.

This invention relates to improvements in Fig. 1 is a side elevation,partly in section receptacles for temporarily holding articles of acontainer produced in accordance with of a nature that are adverselyaffected by eX- my invention. posure to moisture, air, and the like, andFig. 2 is another view of the device shown means for dispensing thesearticles. in Fig. 1.

There are many articles such as tobacco, Fig. 3 is a top plan view ofFig. 1. granulated or powdered materials, and others Fig. i is a sideview partly in section of a that are affected adversely by either toomuch modified form of dispensing means. humidity or moisture in the airor are affected Fig. 5 is a partial elevation, partly in secby toolittle moisture and dry out. For e2ition of a machine similar to Fig. 1showing e0 ample, sugar or salt or malted milk or other a diil'erent useof the same. food products may be spoiled or become Fig. 6 is a verticalsection of a still furhardened and unfit for use it they become thermodified form of dispensing means for unduly damp. Tobacco on the otherhand, liquid articles.

should be kept reasonably moist for most he dispe sing machine shown inFigs. satisfactory conditions. All of these articles 1 and 2 isparticularly adapted to dispense and many other similar ones should alsobe tobacco. lit comprises the base 10, a tran kept free fromcontaminating dust and dirt. parent dome or reservoir 2 which is filledIt is, therefore, the principal object of this through the filling cap 11 and the dispensing invention to provide a receptacle for various means16 through which the material is suit- 7i articles 01" the classdescribed to keep them ably removed. The base which is preferably underregulated atmospheric conditions. made of metal is substantiallycylindrical in It is another object of this invention to cross sectionalthough a suitable flare to the provide a means for temporarilycontaining bottom portion 10 permits a more rigid supvarious dryproducts for subsequent dispensporting structure. The base is verticallydifling which may retain the products in a subvided near the middlethereof by a horizontal stantially air tight condition. web 10 in whichthe filling cap 14c is titted by It is still another object of thisinvention to a screw thread. it will. be apparent iii-om provide asubstantially hermetically sealed Fig. 1 that the flared bottom portion10" will container which is provided with a dispensthus act as a tunnelor guide to the filling a ing means that does not break the air seal andmaterial and will advantageously aid in the dispenses measured unitquantities from the filling operation. contents of the container. Thedome or reservoir 12 which is prefer- It is a further object of thisinvention to ably glass is generally cylindrical in shape provide ameans for regulating the moisture and is superposed by a hemisphericaltop. as content of a substantially dry product by en- At the bottom itis adjoined to the base P01- closing it in a sealed container. tion inany suitable manner and retained by It is a still further object of thisinvena material such as the permanent plaster oi. tion to produce areceptacle for the principal Paris or cement 12. The cement willprepurpose of effectively storing small quantivent accidentaldisplacement of the dome as ties of products that may be temporarilyrewell as seal it from the atmosphere. This tained for futuredispensing, the relative dome or reservoir is made of a transparentamount oi which may be quickly determined glass in order that theenclosed material may by inspection. be clearly seen. It is possible,however, to

Further objects and advantages of this inmake it out of porcelain ormetal or any other e vention willappear from the following depreferredmaterial. scription of the accompanying drawings The dispensing means 16consists of a which illustrate certain preferred forms of tubular shellattached in some manner such embodiment to which this invention is as bya screw thread, to an appropriate openadaptable and in which: ing in thebase 10, above the web 10 and ice inside the chamber. A screw 17 or Wormwithin this tubular shell, operated by any means such as a knurled knob18 will efficiently remove the material through the tube and dispense itfrom the discharge spout 19. This spout is preferably sealed with aresiliently actuated flap valve 20 controllable by the fingers of theoperator and provided With a leather .or rubber gasket.

.As shown in Fig. 2, an article to be filled such as a pipe is heldimmediately under the opening of the discharge spout 19, the valve 20 isopened and the knob 18 rotated until a suflicient quantity of tobacco isdis charged. The valve 20 is then closed and the interior chamber isefficiently sealed. During the dispensing operation the tobacco in thetube '16 prevents any substantial amount of air entering the dispenser.

To keep the tobacco in the desired moist condition, the filling plug Mis made in the form of a cylinder of such size that it will retain amoist sponge. The top 14: of this cylinder filling plug 14 is removableand is litted with a fine mesh Wire screen 14 which allows the humidatmosphere of the sponge to pass through the tobacco and yet preventsthe tobacco from passing into the sponge holder. It is to be understoodthat the filling cap or chamber 14 effectively seals the interior of thechamber from the outside air, however, but is arranged to receive thesponge and provide an interior moistening means.

7 I pin supported in the pair of standards 4.

' Figs. 4 and 5 are illustrative of slightly modified details of thedispensing means. Instead of a knurled knob, a crank handle 21 isattached to the worm shaft by means of a screw 22 for example. In thisform, the pitch of 'the worm threadis of such size that a unit amount ofmaterial may be dispensed at each revolution of the crank. For domesticstorage of coffee, it would be arranged so that each turn of the crankwould dispense a spoonful of coffee.

To seal the discharge opening 19the cap 1 is provided with a gasket 2which is cemented into the cap and remains permanently with it. The capis hinged at the point 3 on a hingie r flat spring 5 held in place bythe pin 6 or any other means is doubled on itself and assembled undertension.

' will force'the cap closed. 'lVhen it is desired to open the 'cap, itis swung outwardly by the knob 8 until'the flat surface 9 of the lobe?bears againstthe spring 5. will then rest n open positionuntil 1t 15 de-The cap sired to .close itagain. This arrangement gives a very positivesnap-action either open o r'closed and will act in the closed positionto additionally seal the container.

In Fig. 6 a further modified form of dispensing means is shown in whichthe reservoir is to be filled with some liquid such as alco- 1101 orsimilar substance and it is desired to have a plunger valve in the endof the discharge opening. In combination with the glass container, thedevice would be ideally suited to dispense liquids or medicines of anypreferred type and in which the knowledge of the actual amount inreserve is necessary. Such a construction prevents unsightly openbottles or reservoirs that collect dirt.

These various modifications of discharge or dispensing devices aremerely illustrative of various desirable forms to which the invention isadapted and which, due to various conditions of use or articlescontained, might be desirable. It is also understood that these enclosedproducts may effect the construction of the reservoir itself. Forexample, certain products of a corrosive nature could not besatisfactorily kept in a metallic container. Certain salts willseriously corrode metal and for protection, the reservoir and base mightall be of glass or the base mi ht be of pulp, waxed paper or papiermacho. Such a con struction would be materially cheaper than a specialnon-corrosive metal for the base. The dispensing device could also be ofglass.

Another important feature shown in F is the means for permanentlysealing the gl s dome to the base which is so essential for manyarticles. As shown, a ring of cork cemented to the lining is used andthis is usually sufficient to compensate for the differences incoefficient of expansion of the glass dome and the metal base. However,it would be possible to construct the rim of the base so thin that themetal itself will allow suflicicnt expansibility; This might beaccomplished by spinning the metal into the rim portion or by stamping.A still further construction of the base to compensate in a measure forthe difference in expansion rate to prevent destruction of either thetop or base would be by crimping the base rim to increase the peripheralexpansibility. To keep the dome permanently sealed is the essentialrequirement.

The term unit quantity as used herein. means such amounts as arecommercially commen. For example, the amount of sugar for sweeteningcoffee is figured in teaspoonfuls. Therefore, for a cafeteria sugardispensing machine, one rotation of the crank handle would be equal toone teaspoonful of sugar. Similarly, the amount of malted milk for asoda fountain drink or the amount of bromoseltzer may be a tablespoonfuland similarly one rotation of the crank in that type of maehinewoulddischarge the exact amount desired. For coffee, which it has been found,deteriorates upon exposure to air, the combination of the air tight,transparent container with a dispensing mechanism to dispense onetablespoon of coffee per revolution of the crank, is very desirable. Itis of course, obvious that in this modified form, the filling plug ismerely a screw threaded cap to satisfactorily close the bottom inasmuchas a moistening or other atmosphere modifier is not essential.

It is to also be noted that only when the material in the interiorchamber is desired to be kept in a particularly moistened condition,will the sponge be kept therein. Some ma terials on the other hand, suchas salt or plaster of Paris for dental use and similar proclucts aredesired to be kept in a dry atmosphere and a suitable absorbent materialsuch as cal :ium chloride for example, will be placed in the cup likefilling cap of Fig. 1. If no changes in the general atmosphericconditions are necessary, the plain form of cap shown in. 5 will beused.

ll hile l have described several forms of embodiment oi": thisinvention, 1 am aware that various changes may be made by those skilledin the art and l, therefore, desire protection on a broad interpretationoi. the invention as disclosed and described herein and claimed in theclaims appended hereto.

I claim: I

1. In a tobacco humidor, a hermetically sealed glass reservoir, a basecomprising a substantially cylindrical reservoir receiving section, asupporting section, a horizontal web therebetween through. which thehumidor is adapted to be filled, a tubular encased worm screw extendinginto said supporting section above the horizontal web, adapted todispense the enclosed tobacco, and a spring controlled closure normallysealing said Worm screw encasement.

2. In a tobacco humidor oi. the class described comprising a reservoirand a multiple section base, means to fill the reservoir through thebase comprising a filling cap, aid cap moistening means enclosed by andmeans over the moistening means to permit humid atmosphere to permeatethe reservoir and to prevent contamination of the sponge by the enclosedproduct.

3. In an air-tight tobacco humidor of the class described comprising amultiple section base divided. by a horizontal Web a transparenthermeticallv sealed reservoir attached thereto, a filling cap andmoistening means received in the cap in saidbase to permit 1n isture tokeep the tobacco in condition and to permit refilling oi the reservoir,and a dis pensing means connected to the upper section oi. said base andcmnprising a tubular casing Worm screw therein, means thereon to turnthe screw and remove the tobacco, and a closure valve to maintain saidscrew casing airtight.

4. In a dispensing machine of the class described comprising a multiplesection base divided by a horizontal Web, the upper section beingadapted to receive a reservoir sealed thereto and a Worm dispensingmeans to remove the enclosed product, the web be ing adapted to receivean atmosphere modifying closure and filling means, and the lower sectionbeing formed to receive the filling material when the machine is upsidedown.

5. In a dispensing machine of the class described comprising a baseportion and a reservoir sealed thereto, the base portion being adaptedto initially receive an enclosed product through a suitable fillingopening and a dispensing means comprising a tubular casing, a wormthread therein, the pitch of the Worm being such that one revolutionthereof will discharge a unit quantity of the enclosed material, and avalve sealing the discharge opening.

6. In a dispensing machine of the class described comprising a baseportion and a reservoir sealed thereto, the reservoir being adapted tobe filled through the base portion and a dispensing means comprising aWorm, a casing covering said worm, a crank on said Worm, and a valvepositively closing said casing.

7. In a dispensing machine, a support comprising an entrance opening anda moisture modifying filling cap therein, a hermetically sealedtransparent container attached to the support, and a means to dispense aunit quantity of the contents of said machine projecting into saidsupport above the filling cap and below the reservoir.

In testimony whereof I have ailixed my signature to this specification.

ERNEST J. SWEETLAND.

